When she returns
by The Poisoned Quill
Summary: Jareth's heart didn't beat, until he met Sarah. That was six years ago, now he only has two weeks to get her to fall in love with him before the entire land dies. But first he has to get her to trust him, would she be willing if it meant staying forever?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Bravery and reality were not the only two lessons to be learned from Sarah's story. There is also the lesson of love, told in the second half of the story that few have heard. Though few know of it, it plays a huge part in her life as she returns to the land called Underground. But the story doesn't start with her, it starts with a man named Jareth.

Jareth was a cruel man, that much we all have heard, but there was a part of him that yearned for more, needed it. And he'd waited, hoping she would return to the home where it all happened. He waited as an owl, sitting on a branch outside her house as often as possible for years. For the only thing he was missing was her, and it was a deadly price he'd ask her to pay. The death of her friends, or her return to a world most commonly known as the Underground.

Chapter 1

She gazed out her bedroom window, feeling just like she did when she was fifteen. It'd been so long since she was last there, a whole four years. It hadn't been long after her trip through the labyrinth that they had moved, leaving all of her wonderful memories behind. But now she was back, and she couldn't help but think of her special friends. Thier words echoed through her head.

"Should you ever need us..." They'd told her, but she'd called and she hadn't seen them after that night. Of course she called for them, there was never any answer. She placed the last stuffed animal back on the shelf, it had been so lucky that the residents were moving out when she started looking. So, with a small sigh she pulled one more thing out of her bag, a photo of her family. Her father, her stepmother, and her brother all sat against the tree outside thier house in texas. This was right before she'd left, at her going away party.

"He's grown so much." She smiled, remembering the toddler he'd been when they were forced into an epic journey. The man's face in her head made her shudder violently, she'd never seen anyone so beautifully evil. She thought the last moments she'd seen him. That was the most frightening thing she'd ever faced, the choice between Toby and his offer of everything she ever wanted.

He stepped out of no where, onto the floor where pieces of the staircases floated all around. His beauty was more than she could handle. He was tall, that was sure, and she assumed very strong. Blonde hair hung over his shoulders and magic eyes stared her down. Skin tight pants accented very long legs and the white shirt he wore gave him all the appearance of a dark angel.

She gulped, gathered courage to look him in those lethal eyes. "Give me the child." She declared boldly.

"Sarah, Beware." He stepped toward her. "I have been generous up to now, I can be cruel."

She couldn't believe her ears, who was he to lie to her face? "Generous, what have you done that's generous?"

"Everything." He spat, walking circles around her. "Everything that you wanted, I have done. You asked that the child be taken, I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have realtered time, I have turned the world upside down and I've done it all for you." He stopped in front of her. "I am exhausted from living up to your expectations."

That was all she would allow herself to remeber, the rest could be saved for a time when it didn't seem so much like the present. Quickly she turned to the mirror, gazing at pale sweaty face. Only now did she realize she was shaking, he terrified her even in her thoughts. She left before she could have a full panic attack.

An owl watched from outside her window, he'd waited forever for her to return. He'd known she would, but that didn't make it less fasinating. There was nothing he could think of to put that look on her face, her life had been perfect since she left. But something terrified her and he'd make it his business to make sure it stayed away from her. What he didn't know was that it was him that scared her, and not even she knew why.

Chapter 2

The oven was working, she could smell the lasangna she'd put in and went down to pull it out. Carefully she dug three forest green plates out of the box on her counter. As she worked on finishing dinner for her and a couple of friends, she let her mind wander back to Jareth.

" Just fear me, love me." He'd tempted her. "Do what I say and I will be your slave."

She had to admit, she would have taken it if it wasn't for Toby. He'd made her fall in love with him, she'd broken that spell along with everything else he'd thrown her way. That was the way things were, now was a different story. She used to wonder what would happen if he'd offer all of it now, and now she knew. There was too much about him that she knew, she knew the pure evil he radiated, she'd never accept it now.

Her senses perked, she wasn't alone. She knew that smell anywhere, it was as if it'd jumped right out of her memories. The smell of cool ice and sweet perfumes that made her nose burn, she turned to face him. But there was no one there.

"Calm down." She took a deep breath and continued to make the salad she was working on. The mirror that had always been above the mirror caught her attention. There were those eyes, that blond hair in a haircut that only one person could look good wearing. As he smiled at her he faded away, leaving her by herself. "Alright." She decided, "That's enough of that. No more thinking about him."

There was a knock on the door, she was glad for the distraction. "Come in!" She called out as she set everything on the table.

"Sarah!" A man called out from the living room. His voice was gruff, matching his appearance.

"In the kitchen!" She replied, pouring water for all. A man with short black hair and a woman with the curliest blonde hair stepped into the kitchen. She'd known that her two closest friends would get together eventually, and was glad to see she was right. They looked the same as they had when she saw them three years ago, just a little older. He was a scarecrow, but always made it look good. While she was rounded, beauty with curves is what he called her over the phone. And she was happy knowing they were that much in love.

"When are you going to find a man?" Elizabeth started in on her the moment she saw her. She hated the fact that Sarah was so lonely, not that Sarah minded. Lonely was better than accidentally falling for a man that turned out to be exactly like Jareth, that would be her luck. That was the way things were. As they sat down she was just glad to be home.

Her back straightened as she felt his presence again, but she shook it off and set her goal that she _would _enjoy dinner with her friends without him disrupting her. He couldn't effect her here, he hadn't been able to effect her for six long years. From outside she heard the sounds of an owl.

Chapter 3

Her heart raced as she stepped into the room that was now hers, she hadn't stepped inside since that night. She'd had the hugest phobia about it. It had been too much too soon, it was like he was always going to swoop back in. But that was years ago, she was fine now. Or that's what she was trying to convince herself, very unsuccessfully. To prove it to herself, she stepped into the room and crossed to the glass doors.

She opened the door and felt the wind against her face, it whipped her, now much longer hair across her face. She stepped outside onto the balcony, the night sky was so beautiful. She used to stand there for hours as a little girl, trying to imagine if there was life anywhere else. Now that she knew, it still didn't change the way the stars looked to her.

Her eyes stayed locked on the stars until the sound of her nightmares came to her ears. An owl hooted as her eyes locked with his. It was pale white, almost too white. As if it understood, it ducked his head in a small nodd. "No," She whispered, " Go away, you can't be here now."

It continued to stare at her as she stepped back inside and locked the door behind her. She curled up in the corner by the bed, trying her best to muster courage and go look again. After she had stayed there for two hours, she was finally able to speak again. "Hoggle," She managed, choking out almost every word. "I need you."

"Well, it's about time." The familiar nasily voice complained. She lept across the large bed, wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I've missed you so much, why didn't you come like you said you would." She felt at peace, knowing that her friend was there with her.

"We could only come if you really, truely need us, you know that." He pulled away, smiling that rare smile.

"We?" She laughed, "Us?"

"Like I could really come and not bring along a few friends." He rolled his eyes, "Well, come on." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room, the sound of familiar voices met her as she stepped down the stairs.

"Ludo!" She cried out, burying her face in his fur.

"Ludo miss Sarah." He said in that deep and gravely voice of his. As Sarah stepped back she looked at him. Those big teeth and mass of red fur that stood seven feet tall would have been scary if it wasn't for that goofy grin and beady eyes. "Sarah different." He continued cheerfully.

"Time does that, Ludo." She looked around him, saw the edgy littl fox on the couch. "Sir Didymus!" She held her arms open as he bound toward her. "Your all here!"

"Thank you for stating the obvious." Hoggle grumbled, she turned back to him, hugging him again.

"That's the only way I'll believe it." She explained before standing back up. "You have to tell me everything that happened since I left."

"Nothing's changed, Jareth is as strong as ever." He looked down at his feet.

"Jareth missing." Ludo added hopefully.

She rested her hand on him, pretending that the news comforted her. If Jareth was missing from his world, then the owl really could be him. But she wouldn't think about that now, there could be hundreds of white owls around here. " Thanks Ludo." She smiled a little, " So what have you been doing for the last six years of your lives?"

As they caught up on thier friendship, sharing old memories and laughing about more recent advendtures, the owl watched her from afar. How he longed to join in the laughter, to be counted among her friends, to know what it felt like to have her arms wrapped around him. He shook his head before he could think too much. She'd never love him, or so he'd thought, he'd tried to rule her.

It'd become apparent over time that she was ruled by noone, but still she needed someone who could be commanding, didn't she? She never dated anyone, even though plenty have asked. And why not, she had grown even more beautiful over time, filling out in splendid ways. So why didn't she date them, what ran through her head that made her suffer in silence.

He continued to ponder this as the rain started to fall down. The others were laughing in the warm house.

"You remember when I kissed you?" She looked at Hoggle, tears in her eyes from laughing too hard.

"I still don't know why you did that." He shook his head, blushing, "You nearly caused us both to fall into the bog of eternal stench."

"You kept pulling away, it was kind of funny. You just did not want to be kissed." She continued as if she hadn't heard him. She'd almost forgotten all the good things that happened in the labyrinth, all the memories she'd been able to make with her friends

"I had good reason." He repeated as he sipped on a can of Pepsi.

"I know that." She rested her head on his shoulder, it was wonderful to not have to spend the night alone. At that moment the phone rang. "My luck." she muttered as she went to answer it and someone knocked on the door.

"Hello?" She smiled as she answered the phone, silently she ushered the others into the kitchen where they wouldn't be seen from the doorway. "Hey Sam, how are you?" Once they were in safe, she headed for the door. Quickly she double checked that they couldn't be seen, that would have been a disaster. "I'm fine, just settling into my house. I'm coming!" She shouted to the door.

She pulled the door open, felt her heart stop beating. For all the good memories, there'd always be a few bad ones.

Chapter 4

"I'm shocked, you know how to use a door." She bit, holding the phone away from her. He opened his mouth to argue but she was already ignoring him. The phone was back to her ear. "Hey, listen, Sam. I'm going to call you right back, unwanted visitors." She paused for a second. "No, there's no reason to call the police but thank you. Come by first thing Tuesday and we'll catch up. Bye."

The phone was across the room before he could blink. It was painfully obvious she was pissed, seeing as she'd used all her strenght to throw it against the wall. She couldn't even talk to an old friend without bad memories smacking her in the face. "Was that nesicary?" He stepped in, his appearance uneffected by the weather.

"You have no right to be here." She stepped away from him, toward the kitchen. She'd keep her friends safe, just as soon as she figured out how, she had no speech this time.

"On the contrary, my minions are here and it is only within my duty to know where they are." He made himself comfortable in the livingroom, stretching out on her couch. "I techiqually could refuse to leave until they do."

She had to admit he had her stumped, let alone was he in her house, he was pretending to care. And since when had he gotten more beautiful than she remembered. Forget that, she reminded herself with a shake of her head, remember everything he'd done to hurt you. " No one needs your protection here." She closed the door to the kitchen as soon as she was on the other side.

"Don't try to run from me, Sarah." He smiled from the table, startling her friends. Hoggle was at her side in seconds, Sir Didymus barked rappedly. Ludo was protecting Sir Didymus' cowardly steed Ambrosius, the St. Bernard, in a corner. "It will do you no good. By the way, how's young Toby? He must be all grown up by now, like his sister."

"He's none of your concern," She lashed out again. "Don't forget where you are and who has the power here, your in my home and I haven't demanded that you leave. According to the laws of your land, that means you have no choice but to either leave or to remain powerless."

He appeared behind her, her friends lept at him. "Can we have a word? Alone."

"No sir, you don't." Hoggle stood beside her, looked him straight in the eye. She smiled a little, he used to cower from the Goblin King.

"It's alright Hoggle, why don't you guys head on up to my room? We'll continue the party up there later." She leaned down to kiss his cheek, "But thanks, for being here." With a small nodd he herded the others upstairs, turned back to look at her before joining them. "Go." She shook her head, watched him head up the stairs. "Why are you really here?"

" For the record, those laws were completely altered three years ago. You hate me, I understand that." He looked at her, layed his hands on her shoulders. "But that is completely beside the point, I need your help."

"Hate is such a strong word, still, why should I help you? You stole my brother and made me go through Hell to get him back."

"You have no real reason to help, only that you know what the heroine must do, what she's always done." He talked in that mysterious voice of his that drew her attention away from what she felt. That was the past though, she saw through the tricks and the charisma. There was no way she'd fall for pretty words like she would have then.

"You can't just come in here and pretend to know me." She turned toward him, standing out of reach. "I'm not the same naive girl I was when I was fifteen."

"Don't kid yourself, you live your life by the same standards." There was heat in his eyes, anger. In her dealings with him, no matter what she'd done, she'd never seen anger. It had been like he was born without that emotion, but there it was, volitle and heated. "You will help me, you have no choice." He held a crystal out to her, watched her take an automatic step back.

"I won't be bribed." She shook her head as he stepped toward her again.

"I'm not trying to bribe you, you silly girl." His eyes penetrated hers, successfully making her feel fifteen again. The crystal was before her, he was closer than she would have liked. "I'm trying to show you what will happen if you don't." She looked into the crystal, saw Hoggle, he was in a bed and not looking very good. Her hand was in his as he struggled for his words.

"I told you I wasn't promising nothing." He smiled weakly. " You need to leave before you die too."

"Your not dying on me, Hoggle." She ran her free hand down his face, he was burning up, it wouldn't be long now. "You can't." Tears stung her eyes.

"Thanks for being my friend, Sarah." His voice was no louder than a whisper, when she looked back up at him his eyes were glassy and she knew.

"I love you, Hoggle." She choked as she layed her head on the bed and wept.

"The others?" She ducked her head, wiped away the faint signs of tears that ran down her cheeks, that was harsh. "Are you going to kill them too?"

"This is not my doing, I've been keeping illness out of the kingdom, don't you get that?" His crystal disappeared, his eyes were filled with a pain she didn't understand.

"What changed?" She sat down at the table, buried her head in her hands. When he didn't answer she looked back up at him, he was just staring out the window. "Well?"

"I can't tell you, that would bring the illness sooner." He grimaced at himself, how was she supposed to trust him if he didn't get to tell her anything?

"Alright," She stood up, had the same defiant look in her eyes that she did when she started the labyrinth. "What must I do?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 5

"Come back with me, to the castle." He stated simply, stepping in front of her.

"She will do no such thing." Hoggle ran down the stairs and came to her side.

She knelt down to face him, touched his cheek. "Hoggle, I have to." She explained with a sigh. "It's the only way."

"Oh no, it's not." He crossed his arms over his chest. "We can stay here. We can't get sick if we're not even there. That way you won't have to worry about us." He was so obviously proud of his plan that she almost didn't have the heart to set him straight.

"I can't do that, Hoggle." She smiled a little. " You don't belong here, sometimes I'm not even sure that I belong here. I can't ask you to stay, so I'm going."

"Fine." He dropped his arms as she straightened back up. "Then we're coming with you."

"She wouldn't have it anyway." Jareth answered coldly before talking straight to her. "Your friends always have been your biggest weakness."

"Get the others, ok?" She pretended that she hadn't heard him until Hoggle was back up the stairs. "They're also my greatest strength. I'll go with them, I won't ask you to transport all of us."

"Don't be ridiculous." He laughed to himself as her friends filed in. Her hands were secure in Hoggle's and Ludo's. It bewildered him that she'd rather touch these filthy creatures than him, a king. It was plain insulting, that was what it was, she had no right. Returning to the task at hand, he opened the sliding door that normally led to the back yard.

The red sky and dusty ground warmed Sarah's heart. No matter what had happened, she'd met the most important people in her life in this place. She didn't get a chance to remember for long, the Goblin King was already several yards ahead. They all ran to catch up, not wanting to walk through the labyrinth without protection again. It felt like just yesterday to her, the day she seemed to run forever, just to find a turn.

"Your just not looking hard enough." The little blue worm had told her in between invitations for tea. He wasn't exactly the smartest worm, or he would have figured out that there was no way for her to fit in the entrance to his home. Her smile dropped when they turned left.

"Where are we going?" She asked Jareth, who was busy consentrating. It troubled her a little, did she just walk her friends into a trap?

"This leads straight to the castle." He told her in between thoughts, a small smile on his face. That smile grew when he heard her mutter "Stupid worm." under her breath. The rest of the journey was silent, each left to their own thoughts.

She'd changed so much, he mused, she was understanding and caring with Hoggle, more than she'd been before. That could have come from watching Toby grow up though, goodness knows, kids needed patience. Still, it was probably best. If she was exactly the same he may have killed her to save himself the headache.

That wouldn't have been good, he needed something from her, something he could only get from her. The time had come that his powers were tied to finding bride, and he only wanted one woman. The problem was, convincing her to love him before his magic disappeared and he was the first to get the disease.

It would be fair, he admitted to himself, but there would be nobody left to protect his people. So he'd get to know this new woman, maybe she'd be able to put up with him more than she used to.

He was confusing, she shook her head at her own thoughts, where had this compassion come from? He'd changed, that much was painfully obvious. But she knew very well that people could only change so much. After all, she hadn't changed as much as she had thought.

All the books and stuffed animals had, eventually, gone to her brother and all her costumes were in the back of her closet, she'd shut away that part of her. But it had all come flooding back the moment she heard Hoggle's voice, she hadn't completely changed. That was for the best though, she'd needed that fantasy for protection against the world occassionally as she grew up. She'd needed to remember that the labyrinth was very real.

Which brought her back to Jareth, had he always been kind? He'd never seemed kind, always a cold calculating evil. But now that she thought about it, she'd never really given him a chance to be kind. In fact, along her journey she handn't even considered him a person. There was so much about him she didn't know.

As the castle became bigger in their eyes they stopped thinking long enough to look at eachother for a brief second. She blushed and looked the other way. She'd find out, she decided, but not right this second. He'd still done too much evil to be completely forgiven.

Chapter 6

It looked just as terrifyingly filthy on the outside as it had before. She wondered if they ever picked up after themselves. Flashes of the condition of the castle ran through her head, catching her off guard. Had she really payed that much attention?

"Somebody actually cleaned." She gasped in fake suprise when they entered the throne room. He shot her a dirty look as he stepped around the indented circle in the floor.

"Do you intend on being a pain the entire time your here?" He asked sarcasticly. The others looked as if a battle was about to break out and they all knew what side they were on. They'd jump to Sarah's defense if the wrong things were said. When she didn't return fire they all looked at her with suprise. Her face was pale, her eyes were wet from tears she refused to cry.

"Sarah sad." Ludo wrapped a big furry arm around her.

"Not sad, Ludo." She looked up at him. "Remembering."

"Remembering what, milady?" Sir Didymus piped up for the first time in a long while. "The way we all fought our way valiantly through the Goblin City below?"

"Close, one of the last times I talked to any of you. I thought I'd have to hit you all over the head with a club to keep you from going with me." She leaned against Ludo, confident the creature could hold her up.

"Of course we understood." Hoggle grumbled, "It was what you needed to do."

"Sarah brave." Ludo held her tighter, still being careful not to harm her. Jareth listened intently, pretending to read a book he'd left on his throne.

He'd never realized just how strongly she felt about her friends, she'd known they could get hurt. So she'd risked going in to face him alone, protecting them with her own fate. She was right, they were her greatest strength as well as biggest weakness. Over his book he watched Sir Didymus climb over Ludo to get on her shoulder, Hoggle wrapped his arms around her waist and Ambrosius rubbed against her killed him to see them like that, one big family. Just like it killed him to know that he'd do almost anything to join in, but he wouldn't be taken in so generously.

A small goblin waited at the door, watching the scene curiously. Never had one seen such a display of love within castle walls. "Come in." Jareth grabbed his attention, the goblin ran to his side. The small creature climbed up onto the arm of his throne and whispered something in his ear. "Very well, now get out." He knocked the goblin off the throne with a wave of his arm. The goblin hit the ground hard as Sarah broke away from her friends.

"That was horrible." She glared at him as she walked over to the creature. "Are you alright?" The goblin was female, and young. Fire red hair trailed down her back in knots and snarls.

"I'm fine, Miss, thank you for your concern." The goblin was trembling as she left, smiling only a little. Sarah turned back to Jareth, disbelief in her eyes. There went anything she thought of him being kind in any way.

"That is no way to treat someone." She started before he could silence her.

"You don't seem to understand what ruling these people is all about." He rose, fluid in every motion he made. "They don't know any other way, fear is what they expect."

"So suprise them for once." She shook her head, angry at herself for believing for one second that he could act humane in any way. "People react better to kindness than anger."

"Your mistaken. Just look at Hoggle," He swept over to her, not sure whether to be angry or thankful that she was no longer about to cry. "Remember what he did to you. Fear made him do that."

"He didn't stay loyal to you though, did he?" She stood her ground, indignant. "He chose to be with someone who considered him a friend. But you don't even know what friendship means, do you?"

He couldn't think of anything to say, her words hit more vicious than anything he could ever do to her. She really believed that. He'd known friendship once, look where it'd gotten him. A castle filled with goblins, maybe that why he was better off alone.

Still her words hurt, how was she supposed to love him if she thought such cruel things. When he dropped his eyes, looking anywhere else, she blinked in suprise.

"I know what friendship means." He stepped away, turned away from her. "Friends are the people that suck you dry and then, when you have nothing more to give, stab you in the back" He was at the window, looking down at Goblin City.

She came forward, looked at him. He was hurt, she'd learned to recognize when someone was sulking, came from being a teacher. " Did someone hurt you, Jareth?" She asked quietly, "Is that why your so cruel?"

"Like I would ever allow someone to get close enough to hurt me," He laughed dryly, "Don't you know me better by now?"

"It was a simple question." Hoggle came to her defense, ornery as ever.

"Wendalin will show you to your rooms." He turned, not looking at anybody and stepped away into another room. The female goblin came back, taking Sarah's hand.

Chapter 7

Her dreams were uneasy, somehow even in nightmares you could still have a nightmare. They were dancing, just like they had before, but it was dark. Her hair was hectic and purple, cut in a style similar to his own. The dress she wore was black and straight, her silver jacket matched his almost identically. She didn't feel like Sarah, in fact, she was positive she wasn't. She felt way too comfortable in his arms, like she was home.

Then it all started to fall apart, the people around them stopped dancing, one at a time they turned into the goblins she'd seen around the city. He stepped back, away from her reach. The goblins grabbed at him and he left willingly, leaving her alone. Somehow she knew this was what she wanted, but the part of her that was still Sarah had no idea what the hell was going on.

She woke with the sun on her face, the light filtering through a window. Now that there was light she could look around more clearly. It was a huge room, full of light. The bed was the color of sand, just like the dresser, a silk blue blanket lay over the bed. There were chairs in the corner of the room by the fireplace. It looked like a comfortable place to curl up and read a book.

On one of the chairs, garments were layed out for her. On top was a scrap of paper." I thought you'd like something to wear that wasn't completely filthy from walking." She smiled as she read it aloud. It was red, with gold embroidery, and the skirt was just a slightly darker shade of ruby than the top. She slid the dress on over her under garments. It fit like a glove, ended at her ankles. Absently, she pulled her hair back in a loose ponytail.

There as a knock on the door. "Come in." She smiled a little and turned to greet her visitor. "Morning, Ludo." she wrapped her arms around him for a brief second.

"Sarah pretty." He grinned.

"Thank you, Ludo." Her smiled grew.

"Jareth looking for Sarah." His smile dropped. "Jareth mean, call Ludo stu...stu...stu."

"Stupid?" She rolled her eyes and took his hand. " Come on, let's go find him." There was nothing she could do about him insulting Ludo, didn't mean she had to like it. It wasn't hard to find him, he seemed to appear out of nowhere as soon as she stepped out into the hallway. "Ludo," She turned to her very furry friend. "Why don't you go find Hoggle, I'm sure he's going to want to know I'm awake."

He walked away, she waited until he was out of hearing range to speak. "You don't understand, do you?" She asked quietly. "Cruel words hurt, and they hurt bad. Your not improving my opinion of you by insulting my friends."

He took her hand, held it in both of his own. "It was purely habitual. I _am_ sorry."

"It's completely natural, I understand, to a point. But you can, at least, try to control yourself." She looked away, watched Ludo turn into a doorway. He walked into the closed door. She started giggling, from beside her she could see Jareth trying not to laugh.

He cleared his throat, a smile in disguise, "Is he always that, um, entertaining?"

"You have no idea," She laughed, "I remember when we were walking around the labyrinth. We came to those two annoying knockers, the one that can't talk and the one that can't hear."

"This is going to be good." He leaned against the wall, pulling her with him so that she was just standing in front of him. He didn't think she realized, this was the first time they'd ever had a real conversation. "Don't stop." He smiled, " I like to listen to people."

"Well, I took the knocker out of the one guys mouth and handed it to Ludo and had a very tedious discussion with them. When I turned to take the knocker from Ludo, it was in his mouth. He was trying to _be _the knocker. I don't think he realized that I was laughing at him because he stood there grinning like he'd done something so special."

"He did, didn't he?" Jareth laughed, imagining Ludo with the brass knocker in his mouth, grinning.

"What do you mean?" She pulled her hand out of his and joined him in leaning against the wall.

"The way I see it, you were depressed, things weren't exactly going great. Ludo made you laugh, that had to make things brighter. To me, that sounds pretty special."

"Wow." She looked straight at the wall across from them. " That was really good, I'd almost believe it."

"You don't believe me?" He narrowed his eyes.

"No, I don't believe that you could say something like that and mean it." She ducked her head, " That would mean you cared more than you let on, I wasn't just a teenager that dared to challange you."

"Your right." He said quietly, causing her to blush, "You've never just been a teenager that dared to challange me."

Chapter 8

"Just what do you think your doing?" Hoggle came limping down the hallway. "You stay away from her!"

"Hoggle," She leaned forward, made sure he was looking at her. " I'm alright, we're just talking."

"Sure," Hoggle stopped in front of them, definately in a pout. "Just like he was just talking in the hallways last night about you, some problem, and danger.

The smile dropped from her face. "What is going on?"

"Nothing, Hoggle must be hearing things." Jareth stepped away, "If you'll exuse me." He started walking at an amazingly quick pace, but not fast enough. Sarah caught up with him.

"Jareth, don't lie to me, what's going on?" She grabbed his arm, shocking him with her strength.

"I can't tell you, if I could, I would." He stopped, turned to face her. "I'm not who you think I am."

Things clicked in her head. " You've stopped with the whole obsession with crystals thing." she looked him in the eye. "Why?"

"If it is really that important, I'm saving my strength. I prefer to wait, time changes people." He looked so sad, she couldn't understand it.

"No." She argued. "You alter time, it doesn't change you." She stepped away from him. "You also don't bend your will to match someone else's, what are you playing at?"

"I'm not playing at anything." He looked at her, she was so beautiful. He'd meant to tell her that. There was no way to explain how she looked to him. Time really had changed her, more physically than he'd thought possible. The beautiful girl with almost no figure had transformed into a gorgeous woman with the body of a goddess.

"Your lying." She stepped backward, kept walking even when he started to say something. "Don't talk to me right now." She objected.

"Sarah!" Hoggle cried from behind Jareth. Jareth had already seen it, but she wouldn't listen to him. He watched in horror as she took that final step, started to fall backward. He calculated fast, she'd get hurt, that was no doubt. Within a second he was halfway down the stairs. He caught her before she could get any farther. She groaned, opened her eyes a little.

Hoggle was at the top of the stairs, glaring down at him. "Well, why didn't you stop her?"

"She wouldn't let me." Jareth looked up at him. He scooped her up and started back up the stairs.

She woke in her bed, Jareth sat in a chair he had dragged over from the corner. "What happened?" She sat up against the pillows.

"You were so angry at me for telling the truth that you started walking the wrong way and took a spill down the stairs." He shut the book that he had been reading. "Thankfully some mysterious man just randomly appeared and stopped you from injuring yourself too badly."

"You tell that mysterious man I said thank you." She smiled slightly. " And I'm sorry I didn't believe you, I'm still getting used to Jareth, the good guy with some awful habits."

"And I have to get used to the fact that your not the fifteen year old with hormone issues." He slid onto the edge of the bed. " How are you feeling?"

"Just a little sore, where is everyone else?" She was shocked to find that they were not there in the room. It was almost certain that they would have been right there waiting.

" It's three o'clock in the morning, Sarah." He took her hand, needing to touch her for reasons he couldn't explain. " I sent them to bed."

"Why didn't you leave, then?" She looked outside at the window, it really was dark, the stars sparkled brighter than on earth.

"And have you wake up alone with no clue what happened?" He laughed once before looking back down at her, she was looking at him again. "Just curious," He stood up and smiled. "How do you ever understand what Ludo's trying to say?"

"Friendship does that to people." She laughed.

"And are we friends, Sarah?" His smile disappeared, every horrible thing he'd made her go through flashed through his head.

"I'm not sure yet." She answered honestly. " It's starting to look like it. In fact, maybe someday, you'll actually feel like you can tell me why me being here keeps illness away."

"Maybe someday." He agreed halfheartedly, how would she take the truth? One thing was certain, it was better for both of them if she didn't know yet.

Chapter 9

She didn't know what to think anymore, everything she'd known had changed. The only constants she had were her friends, and that was a blessing. It'd been two days and she couldn't understand what had gotten into Jareth. He had been so nice to her the day she took that fall down the stairs, but now he was distant, almost vacant. It made her wonder if he even wanted to be her friend, or if he had wanted her to answer no when he'd asked.

Every day she walked to his throne room, only to find he wasn't there. And she waited, looking down at the city below. When he finally did come in he was distracted and left again with only few words said between them. So today she'd decided to do something different. She pressed her hands together as she curled up on her bed. On her bed was every paper she'd somehow managed to stuff into her pockets the day before she left.

With the small pen she wore on a string around her neck, she began to take notes. Everything she needed to complete her work she had committed to memory. "Tuesday, " She thought out loud, relieved she wouldn't have to start work for another couple of weeks. "We'll start with what we know best."

Her thoughts traveled back to her own copy of Labyrinth, hidden under her pillow. It went with her everywhere. She'd gotten that from her mother, who had studied it in Mythology class, now she'd teach it to new students. The story of this place would not be forgotten. She'd made that her life's goal.

They'd know of the dangers of believing too much in something, sometimes it came to life. That was one of the many lessons she'd learned the first time around, now she wondered what she'd learn before she left again.

It was obvious she wasn't alone, she could smell him. Not talking to him yet, she folded up her papers and tucked them under her pillow. "Lesson plans." She laughed, finding no humor. " I have to go back eventually, might as well be ready."

"What do you teach?" He came to her side, rested his hand on her shoulder. What had once seemed like such a frightening gesture was now friendly and heart warming.

"Mythology." She looked up at him, he laughed a little. "It seemed to fit. Was there anything you wanted?"

"Do I need a reason to talk to you? You've seemed distant of late." He sat down on the bed and looked her in the eye. "Have I done something to upset you?"

"What? No! Of course not." She sighed. "You looked like you could use some time by yourself, I didn't want to intrude." He looked away, staring into her eyes was too much, too potent.

"I've been by myself for a long, long time," He told her quietly, " It gets rather lonely. You have to return to your world?"

"You don't want me here forever." She shook her head slightly, " And I don't know that I could adjust to your way of living here. My friends can stay with you, if you wish."

"That would be nice," The thought lifted his heart a little, friends that seemed to be unfailingly loyal. "I've never had friends before, for obvious reasons."

She swung herself off the bed, walked to the window. The silver dress she wore hung off her shoulders, flowed down like a waterfall. Her hair was loose, traveling down her back seductively. There was temper in the way she stood, insult radiated around her. "I thought we were pretty much done with the lies." She talked in nothing more than a whisper.

"We are." He stood up, stepped closer to her. "What do you think I lied to you about?"

"She was pretty, she was like you, and she was your friend. She hurt you, turned your subjects into goblins." She turned to look at him, knowledge filling her eyes. "She hurt you and and she was like you, an ultimate betrayal."

"How do you know this?" He closed the distance, stood next to her in front of the window.

"You never know what to believe here. I saw it, I felt it after you wouldn't tell me who she was." She tilted her head up toward him, "We're friends now, what hurts you hurts me too."

He took her in his arms, held her close to him. She found comfort here against his chest. " I would never ask you to carry my burden, Sarah." He said against her hair.

"Of course you wouldn't." Her voice was calm, she pulled away. She wasn't ready to feel anything more than friendship, not yet. It was too much, way too soon. So she stepped back to keep her distance, both physically and emotionally. "I volunteered."

He walked to the door, turned back to her. "I have something I want to show you." He told her.

Chapter 10

"Where are we?" She asked when he stopped in front of a small wooden door. His eyes were lit with anticipation, he'd never taken anyone here.

"The highest tower of my castle." His hands covered her eyes, needing no hands to open the door. He pushed her inside gently, shut the door behind them. As he took his hands off her eyes, he prepared for her reaction.

"Oh my god." She breathed, looked around the room. It was open, six huge windows, with round walls. Each wall had a painting, some were lined with books, others had comfortable chairs that one could nap in for hours. The sweet sounds of a harp played from the corner, it was a paradise within despair. A place to escape when one wanted to be free from the madness.

" You like it?" He asked, watching the smile on her face.

"This place is amazing." She nodded, felt his presence next to her like he was the only thing she was capable of feeling. Shaking her head to get rid of the uneasyness in her stomach, she turned to him. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"Your the first person in a long time who ever considered me anything but evil." He shrugged, "So I wanted to share this with you."

"Thank you, Jareth." Her smile widened, brightening her face. "That means alot to me."

"Sarah," He took a deep breath, "Your not an ordinary woman, I don't feel ordinary around you."

"Your not ordinary, the fact that you can pull crystal balls out of the air proves that." She pointed out, slightly terrified at the sudden shift in the atmosphere of the room, it changed from friendly to revealing.

"I feel ordinary though, or at least I used to. But having you here has made me realize, my heart has actually started beating since I met you." She didn't realize the significance of that, his kind didn't have hearts that beat. Hearts that didn't beat, until they found the One. It started the moment they looked into the other's eyes, and the beats were numbered.

"I can't deal with this." She started toward the door, turned back to face him. "I'm not ready to be anything more than friends, Jareth. You can't expect me to be. Eventually, I have to go home and I don't want to spend the rest of my life regretting leaving again." The door was open, she was halfway through it before she turned around again. " Thank you though, for showing me this place."

He watched as she practically ran down the spiralling staircase, felt the same dismay as when she'd defeated him six years ago. As he listened to her exit, he thought of the first time his heart beat.

Everybody was spinning, dancing. He watched through his mask as she walked between dancing couples. Her hair was curled beautifully, her body hidden beneath a gorgious white dressed that seemed to float in every direction. Her eyes searched for something, something she couldn't find.

The dancers became cruel, laughing and treating her like a joke. The only innocent creature in the room had become thier new favorite play thing. Still she ignored them, pushing her way through the crowd to find what she was so desperately looking for. Then, as he removed his mask and thier eyes met, she found it.

Something pounded in his chest, confused as to what he was feeling, he disappeared. He watched from a distance as she looked for him, for only him. It was a strange feeling to have your heart start beating after so many years. As he danced with other women, he found himself longing to dance with only her.

At one point in her search for him, he was directly behind her, still holding onto his final strands of logic. When he couldn't run anymore he knew he had two choices, dance with her or feel his heart suffer for the first time in his existance. Seeing as he was not one for pain, it seemed more benificial to go with choice A.

She finally found him among a group of women, and those deep eyes just stared at him. He stepped out from the group, took her in his arms, and joined the other couples on the dance floor.

If only he'd known then what he knew now. If only he'd known that in exactly two weeks his heart beats would run out and he'd be the first of many to die.

Chapter 11

From somewhere in the castle, Sarah heard Ludo howl. Her feet picked up speed as she ran down the massive hallway, cursing herself for staying too far away from her friends. Yes, she'd needed the time, but she should have known better. What if someone was hurt? As she rounded the corner, she figured she was about to find out.

His howling grew quiet, soft laughter chiming beside him. Sarah ducked behind the corner before she was recognized. "See?" A sickeningly sweet voice sang gently, "That's all you have to do when you want someone's attention. I bet, Sarah's already halfway here by now."

"You bet she is." Sarah stepped out, facing down the conspiritor. "Ludo, you could have brought the rocks down on top of us, you know that."

"Ludo knows." He nodded his head saddly, his furry body hiding the woman.

"Who's your friend?" She smiled a fake smile of her own. Ludo pulled her out from behind him, eager to please an obviously pissed off Sarah.

"Sarah meet Melony." He grinned. She blinked, took in the woman with suprise. She knew her, she'd been her. The woman was more beautiful than she'd imagined, truth was, she was perfect. Her hair was the perfect shade of lavender in a style that fell as randomly as Jareth's, white eyes pierced through Sarah. There was no way to look at her and not know, her and Jareth were the same.

"Does he know your here?" She asked finally, knowing very well what the answer was.

"I was just heading up to find him when I ran into your friend here. He looked lonely and couldn't seem to find you." Melony shook out of his grip, "Where were you, if not with your friends?"

"I was with Jareth, we were talking about something rather important." She smoothed out the skirt of her dress, hiding the embarrassment. She could have spent time with Ludo instead of dealing with all that.

"So I'm wrong in my assumption that he's hiding in that tower of his again." Melony's eyes grew wary, suspicious.

"No, your not wrong." She shook her head. " He was still there when I left." Yes, she cheered inside her own head, score one for her. At the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, she straightened. "Not that this isn't going to be the most interesting event of the day, I'm afraid we simply can't stay." She practically ran, pulling Ludo along with her.

He turned the corner, watching Ludo walk down the hallway with her hand in his. "Damn." He cursed himself for acting so irrationally.

"You always have hated yourself." A voice ate at his heart before he could even turn to face her. He did face her though, with a smile on his face and a plan to run in his mind. She was just as beautiful as she'd been the day she betrayed him.

"Darling." He stepped forward to kiss both of her cheeks, " You look as lovely as ever."

"And your getting older." She accused bitterly. "It's that girl, isn't it."

"Behave yourself." He warned her politely before stepping away to the window, "There will be a ball celebrating your return of course, it's customary. But do not get the impression that your welcome here. We do not allow snakes in the kingdom now."

"My, you've changed." Melony shivered, stepped up to him and slid her arms around his neck seductively. "What happened to the warmth, the heat in the Jareth I know?"

He stepped back out of her grip, turned his cold eyes on her. In them she saw nothing but a mirror, reflecting the way she'd hurt him and the way he wouldn't easily forgive and forget. "Like you said, I am aging, and I am no longer interested in the games you choose to play. So we will have the ball, then the next day you will be gone, do I make myself clear?"

When she could do nothing but nodd, he turned on his heels and walked off, leaving the traitor alone to fend for herself like she always had.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 12

After dinner Sarah knew something was wrong, terribly wrong. Jareth hadn't said a word, just ate with a look of pure pain. The arrival of his new guest had everything to do with it, that she was sure of. Another thing she was sure of was Jareth, he'd have this woman out as soon as possible but he'd hurt more than he had before.

She'd learned from experience, wounds hurt more the second time they are opened. So she exused herself to her room, working on a solution. There had to be something she could do to make it less painful for him, even if it was just something small. The one obvious choice alluded her, and even she knew she wasn't ready yet to learn of it.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in, Hoggle." She groaned, leaning against the wall. This whole situation was giving her a headache. Her head was against her knees, lost in thought. After a minute she realized no one had come in.

Under the door was a piece of paper, only about the size of an envelope. As she opened it she felt something odd, as if the paper had something in it that made her dizzy. The single word on the paper echoed in her head as she sank back against the door. Goodnight.

In her head she knew what was happening. Damn, she thought bitterly, this is the last time I walk into a spell. She tried to reach out with her arm, it wouldn't budge. Niether could she make any noise, she was quite literally a lifeless doll. Using what was left of her bodily movements, she gripped the note tightly in her hand.

It was so obvious, she decided as she sat there without choice, Melony had done this. However she couldn't see why, what real threat did she pose to her. If she wanted Jareth that badly, she could have him, of that much Sarah was positive. Melony had power she didn't and she wanted him more than Sarah did, Sarah wasn't even sure how she liked him.

Then she remembered the way he moved, her thoughts going back six years. Six years and it was still perfectly clear.

At fifteen she'd noticed a lot about men, the way they acted, but nothing applied to him like that. She was following Hoggle past the false alarms, a crystal rolled by thier feet. As they stepped into the tunnel she was faced with an ugly birdlike thing with a cup in which the crystal jumped into. "What have we got here?" He croaked, his voice resembling a squeaky door.

"Nothing." Hoggle lied, protecting himself more than Sarah.

"Nothing?" The bird asked, standing up to shake off his hideous costume. "Nothing?" Jareth asked again.

Her mind returned to the present for just a second as she heard some kind noise outside. When she couldn't move to pound against the door, she returned to his thoughts.

She skipped ahead to after she found out that Hoggle was taking her back to the beginning. "And you, Sarah?" He closed the space between them, leaving only inches. "How are you enjoying my labyrinth?"

It took a second to gather the courage it took to talk while looking him in the eye. "It's a piece of cake."

"Then how about uping the stakes." He pointed to the clock, subtracted hours.

"That's not fair." She objected until he turned back to her.

"You say that so often." His voice was dark, dangerous. "I wonder what your basis for comparison is." He stepped away, standing in the middle of the tunnel he spoke again. "So the labyrinth is a piece of cake, is it?" With a trick of the hands, he had another crystal. "Let's see how you deal with this little slice."

So maybe she could see herself liking him as more than a friend, she shrugged on the inside. It wasn't that big of deal, it wasn't like she absolutely _had_ to act on it. She could get along perfectly fine, pretending that she didn't know better. Instead, she could try to figure out what to do about Melony. That bitch had to die, that was all she knew.

Ok, die was a strong word, maybe seriously injure. The injury couldn't be physical, Sarah knew that, she wasn't quite sure how to hurt people like them. But there had to be a way, and she'd find it.

Chapter 13

He hadn't seen her since dinner, that was unusual for Sarah. Even if she was going to refuse to talk to him, she'd still be down where everyone else was. She'd be teaching Hoggle how to read or wrestling with Ludo. In fact, no one seemed very happy tonight, everyone just sort of stared at eachother.

Quietly he dismissed himself, escaping to his tower. There was nothing here that could bother him, it was just him and his thoughts. But that was disturbing enough, his thoughts were destroying him from the inside out.

Had he caused Sarah to leave her friends for the night? Was he that stupid? He didn't think she'd be that upset by his feelings, she was supposed to feel it too. As he sat in a large window he could still feel it, the room was filled with his emotions. Bringing her in here had been like bringing her into his heart, his very thoughts. But she'd turned and ran.

Not that he could blame her, he was sacrificing almost nothing when he told her. If she felt the same she'd have to sacrifice everything. She'd have to leave her students, many of which were babies when she moved away, and she'd have to leave her home. Falling in love with him would mean staying here forever, going back would be too hard after that.

He'd give her some time alone then, let her work out whatever was bothering her. Meanwhile, he chose to sit in his window and read the book he'd been neglecting. Having read it a million times already, he knew the story by heart. The prince was spoiled, thinking only of himself. Then when he wouldn't help an old woman, she transformed into a beautiful witch and turned him into a beast. Years later, a man came into his castle and was taken as his prisoner. A young girl, too young to give up her life, took her father's place and stayed with the beast. The beast fell in love with her and released her when her father became deathly ill. The sacrife almost killed him, for the time was up in which he could make her fall in love with him.

She returned when she realized what she felt, and declared herself to him. He transformed before her eyes, turning back into the handsome prince and they lived together happily ever after. The story struck him hard, it was him.

He hadn't intended to actually read it, he'd taken it from Sarah's room six years ago. It was called _Beauty and the Beast_. In his mind he could see the story, but the characters were different. The beast was a cruel man who found himself clinging to the evil within himself so that he wouldn't get hurt. And the girl, well, he could imagine her as Sarah, it wasn't hard to see. Hadn't she actively sacrificed herself to save Toby? After all, she could have died trying to save him if she failed. The only other character left was the witch, so obviously Melony, but circumstances were different.

That was the way a fairytale worked, but he knew better. Six years ago, both him and Sarah learned that first hand. She could choose another path, or he could screw up and push her away. Either way, it may not work out to a happily ever after. That was the way life was, the way he knew it would happen. He could only hope for the best.

When he realized his mind had turned foolish he chuckled darkly, it wasn't hard to dream but that didn't get the job done. However, dreaming about fairytales did give him an idea, the perfect theme for the ball. Silent as a stone, he set to work, the sooner they had the ball, the sooner Melony would be out of his life again.

Chapter 14

Hoggle wasn't like Jareth, he wasn't going to stand for the blunt ignoral from his first friend. He hit the door hard, biting out curses as he went unanswered. Sarah was going to get a piece of his mind as soon as she opened the door. He wouldn't be ignored, she was too important to him to just stop communication. After about ten minutes it clicked into his head, Jareth had done something.

It fit, Jareth's new friend shows up and Sarah shuts herself out. He had to have said something to make her unhappy, it was the only reason he could think of. Her heart was important to Hoggle, he wouldn't sit around while it got shattered. His short legs made quick time as he went to find that snake.

Jareth was in the throne room, talking to a goblin about table arrangements. Hoggle's arrival brought the conversation to an abrupt stop. "Figure the rest out accordingly." He nodded to the goblin before turning to the dwarf. "Hoggle, what can I do for you?"

"You can leave Sarah alone, you've got no business harming her." His hands fisted on his hips. There was frustration in his beady black eyes, and love for his friend. Any retort Jareth was going to make stopped, he could see that Hoggle meant well.

"Hoggle." He got down to his level, looked him in the eye. " I didn't intend to harm her, I only wished to tell her how I felt. She didn't respond the way I hoped, but I don't believe I hurt her any more than necissary. I love her, Hoggle."

"Well, what'd you have to go and say a thing like that for?" He turned his frustration, finding no reason to hate him. "Now I can't blame you for her behavior."

"Maybe she just needs some time alone." Jareth suggested softly.

"She'd open the door for me, even if she didn't want to talk." Hoggle pointed out, "This is Sarah we're talking about, she never shuts people out that way."

"You do have a decent point." Jareth stood up, feeling slightly suspicious. Hoggle was right, it wasn't like her. "Let's go talk to Sarah, something's not right."

Sarah was alert, listening for any sounds that might mean Hoggle was coming back. He'd be mad, but she'd deal with that. Maybe he'd bring Ludo to open the door, that would probably be best. Then Sir Didymus would tag along, just because.

It made her feel a little better knowing that her friends wouldn't let her suffer in silence, they'd break down the door to make her talk to them. It was the way they were, the way they all were. No one wanted to be alone, expesially when there were people around that none of them trusted. And as soon as she figured out how to move again, she'd make sure that Melony was out of thier lives forever.

What ever she did, it had to be good. It had to be something so good that she'd stay away from Jareth and the others after she'd returned home. But that wouldn't be a problem once she told Jareth, she knew how cruel he could really be.

His cruelty had once attracted her, then again, everything about him had. There was something about a man who was so purely dark, so evil in everything he did. Now she found his good side so much more lovely. There was something about the look in his eyes when he spoke to her or when he watched her play mindless games with Ludo even though she was so obviously going to lose. It was like she was the only thing in the room and that was enough for him.

Maybe, if he didn't totally fall in love with Melony all over again, she'd kiss him before she left. Just to tell him how much she appreciated everything he'd done for her.

Chapter 15

However Hoggle tried, he could not break in a door better than Jareth. It wasn't very hard, his hand just barely touched the door when it blew open. They found her bed empty, none of the chairs were occupied. Jareth stepped inside, looked curiously at the bed. "Hoggle, are you sure she came in here?"

"Well, no. But she's nowhere else in the castle." Hoggle rolled his eyes.

"Alright then, let's just look at this rationally." Jareth turned, stopped suddenly. "Or we could look in the corner." She was laying there like a rag doll, her eyes glassy and open. There was no life in them, they stayed locked on her hand. " Sarah." He went over to her, knelt beside her. "Are you alright?"

There was no answer.

"Sarah, please talk to me." He sighed, looked at Hoggle. Hoggle was already as worried as he was, if not more. "Your scaring Hoggle, Sarah, you have to talk to us." He shook her, the half of her body that was up against the wall slid to the floor. The white thing tucked in her hand grabbed his attention. He pulled it out of her hand, opened it up. "Goodnight." He read the note out loud before handing it to Hoggle. " She's not ignoring us."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hoggle did his best to read the note.

"It means that I allowed the wrong person into my life a long time ago, Hoggle." He stated slowly, pulling Sarah into his arms. "And she's decided to make Sarah pay. It's torture to be awake and not be able to do anything while everyone assumes your asleep. You can't talk, you can't move, you can't even blink. It's the worst kind of nightmare."

"Your saying she can hear everything we say?" Hoggle came to her side, took her hand.

"Worse," Jareth nodded," Because it gives you time to think, time to go insane. In three hours even the most sane of men lose their minds."

"Can you get her out of it?" Hoggle asked as Jareth picked her up and carried her over to the bed.

"Maybe." He answered honestly. "But you can delay the inevitable and give me more time to work on the solution." He pulled the book out of no where. "Read her this, if she consentrates on that she won't be thinking and it'll take longer for her to go crazy."

"You want me to read to her?" Hoggle laughed dryly. "I can't read."

"You can do it, Hoggle." He touched his shoulder. "You can do it for her."

"Your right." Hoggle nodded, " I can at least try."

Jareth turned, practically ran out. He was going to try Melony first, he knew exactly where she would be. It didn't seem right to knock, not for this visit. He just walked in, anger flaring in his eyes. She was standing there, gazing in the mirror. There were two dresses on the bed and she was holding another. When she saw him in the mirror she turned to him.

"Which do you prefer?" She asked, holding up a slinky black dress. "The black," She dropped it and picked up a white one that looked exactly the same. "Or the white."

"White was never your color." He glared. "White is for innocents."

"What's your deal?" She rolled her eyes. " Your so rigid."

"You've never been as powerful as me." He traced his finger along the wall, as if just merely stating facts. "But your twice as cruel. Even I wouldn't do what you did."

"And what is it you think I did?" She faked a shocked expression.

"You hurt Sarah. Your angry at me because my heart's beating and yours isn't." His eyes turned to ice again. "Your angry at me so you decided to punish me by using that stupid powder."

"You don't know how wrong you are." Melony laughed wickedly. " Every thing you've done is wrong. You were supposed to fall in love with me. Your heart was supposed to start beating because of me. You were supposed to cause _my_ heart to start. That girl knows nothing about you."

"And what do you know that she doesn't?" He stepped forward, the image of Sarah's face when they talked flashed through his mind. It was as if she could see right through him, like nothing he did could suprise her. "How cruel I can be? She knows exactly how cruel I can be, still she can be equally as cruel."

"And still she loves you." She looked into his eyes, smiled a sly smile. "Or maybe not. Your not sure, are you?" Her eyes lit as she saw her opportunity to really make him suffur. "It's too bad you'll never know."

Chapter 16

Ludo and Sir Didymus Hoggle were by her bed, Sir Didymus lay next to her. Slowly and solemnly he walked in, making eye contact with everyone of them before looking at Sarah. She was so still, it wasn't right.

As he came to her side, he took her hand, smiled a little. "Your going to be ok, Sarah." In his hand was a small stone, no bigger than a marble. "It's going to hurt to wake up, there's no other way."

"How bad will it hurt?" Hoggle demanded.

"Like nothing any of us could ever imagine." He grimaced, "You'll need to hold her down, she'll injure herself if you don't." The stone in his hand was bright, it glowed in his hand. Carefully, he layed the stone on her heart and watched as it sunk seamlessly into the skin. "I'm sorry." He whispered quietly before he backed away. "I need to be somewhere else, anywhere else."

He couldn't convince himself to go any farther than the hallway. From where he was, he could hear the screaming. It was blood curtling, and damn, it was heartbreaking. His head rested against the wall as a steady stream of water ran down his cheeks.

Curiously, he wiped at it, looked at it. He'd never cried before. What an amazing girl Sarah was, she had started his heart _and_ let him feel what it was like to shed tears. The screams became more brutal every second, the pain he knew she felt was agonizing. Her screaming would last all night, then the pain would become manageable. But it wouldn't be over, the effects wouldn't go away for days.

Hoggle came and stood outside with him. "Ludo's got her." He shook his head, trying to block out the screams. "That's horrible."

"I know, I'm sorry." Jareth agreed. " I didn't want to hurt her, but it's the only way."

"Not that." Hoggle glared, slightly annoyed. "I mean that your standing out here blaming yourself when you could in be in there, where she needs you."

"I can't go in there, Hoggle." He straightened up, blinked his eyes clear.

"Let me put it this way." Hoggle touched his arm. "Your doing no good standing out here, but you can help her. Go fight with her, if she can deal with the pain, so can you."

"Your right." Jareth nodded, " I'm not even the one in pain." He laughed a little. She screamed, he winced. "I can handle this." He was at the door, watching him.

"Your wrong again." Hoggle smiled sadly. "If she's hurting, your hurting. That's just the way you two are."

"Us two?" Jareth's eye brow raised.

"I'm not stupid." Hoggle rolled his eyes, waited a second. "You mean more to her than she lets herself believe."

"I need her to believe." Jareth walked into the room, watched her writhering body. Her eyes were wide, wet, he wondered if this was what it was like to watch someone get burned alive.

He walked over to her, took her hand and sat on the edge of the bed. Carefully he reached over and held her other hand down. "It's ok, Ludo." He nodded at the crying beast, "I've got this."

Ludo released her, backed out of the room. Jareth held her down as she moved beneath him in pain. She screamed so loud his ears rang. "Your going to get through this, then your going to go to that ball with me. Because I know you, you won't make me suffer through Melony alone."

He kept talking to her as she screamed, ignored the look in her eyes. And he held her down through the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 17

She'd finally stopped screaming around seven in the morning, evetually she was able to speak again. "So I have to go to a ball with you?" She asked as she sat up in the bed, he was still sitting beside her.

"It's custom for our people to throw a ball for a visiting dignitary."Jareth nodded. "And as soon as it is over, that bitch is out."

She shivered, looked at him with humor in her eyes. "I'd almost forgotten how cruel you could sound. I'll go with you, it's the least I can do for keeping me from going insane."

"Your not even a little mad at me?" His eyes narrowed, tried to understand.

She laughed, it hurt but it also felt undeniably good. "Why would I be mad? Because you didn't throw Melony out on her ass? I understand all of that, besides, she'd just come back anyway."

"Your probably right." He shrugged, " I can promise you though, she won't get away with this. I'll make her pay, just as soon as I can figure out how."

"I already have an idea for that." She grinned. " All that gave me a lot of time to think."

"And that's what you thought about, how to make her pay." He laughed a little, she would always amaze him.

"That, and other things." Her smile faded, her eyes traveled to the window. " I was sitting there for a while. Thank you, by the way, for making Hoggle read to me. He needed that."

"I know." He sighed, "He wouldn't have wanted to sit there and wait for someone else to find the answer."

"He wouldn't have understood, I was interested in your choice of books though." She looked back up at him, her eyes filled with curiousity. "Why _Beauty and the Beast_?"

"Because it's one of those books that just kind of stick with you." He answered simply. "I'm sure you have a book like that."

"Sure." She laughed, "I use it for the beginning of my mythology class, to show my students about the lessons mythology can teach us." She pulled out the red leather book. " I keep it with me at all times."

"What is it?" He took it from her hands, flipped the book over to read the title, _Labyrinth_. "You've got to be kidding me." His smile widened, he opened it. Tucked inside the pages were scraps of paper with sketches on them. One was of Hoggle, he was just standing there, kind of annoyed. Another was of Ludo with a wide grin. He noted the white out on the page. "You've erased something from the book."

She leaned forward, talked in a conspirator's whisper. "I didn't want them to know the words. Trust me, I've been there. They would be studying when their younger sibling would start to cry. Then, thinking it was all a joke, they'd do the same thing I did."

"And are you sorry you did?" He closed the book, handed it back to her.

"I used to be." She tucked it back under her pillow with the rest of her lesson plans. They would all have to go back into her pocket when she left. "Then I realized that I would have never met Hoggle, or Ludo, or Sir Didymus, or you. That's something I would never trade away."

She stretched, yawned. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to get some sleep in before I have to face our friends again."

"Of course." He stood up as she slid under the covers. " You never did tell me how she should pay."

"I'll tell you, when we're both a little more awake. You look like you could use a little sleep too." She nodded.

"If I make it that far, I'll rest in my tower." He rubbed at his now tired eyes.

"That's not nesicary." She looked straight at him, nothing but fatigue showed. "I trust you, and we're both too tired to go anywhere." He still looked confused, she patted the other side of the large bed. "Besides, I really don't want to be left alone with Melony still wandering around."

"You make perfect sense." He tried to calm his heart and failed. It wasn't as if she was offering because she loved him, he reminded himself, they were good friends and she didn't want to be alone. He layed above the covers, Sarah was already asleep.

He reached out to touch her arm gently, the soft touch caused her to stirr. Without waking, she curled into him, he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her hair as a small smile spread on her dreaming lips. Then he too, succombed to sleep

Chapter 18

She watched herself in the mirror, twirled in the dress she wore. It flowed out from her waist like a waterfall, the color of a crystal blue sky. The silk cut down her back, revealing skin she'd never left bare before. The material sparkled, attracted the eye to the way it clung to her. True, it was so different from the dress she'd worn last time, and yet, she was different too. Everything was different, and everyone.

Around her neck hung a single emerald Jareth had deemed necisarry. She wasn't going to argue, it did look fantastic with the outfit. Carefully, she did up half of her hair in an elegant bun, curled the rest so that it hung lightly at her shouders.

Three days ago she'd promised to go with him, she'd woken up to the smell of him. It was nice, to know that he was there for her, but it was also incredibly scary. "What am I doing?" She asked herself as she put her makeup on lightly.

He was pulling on his jacket, more nervous than he'd ever been. Tonight was going to decide everything, it almost had to. There was barely any time left, his power was beginning to fade. Trying not to think of such horrible things, he pulled his hair away from the collar of the jacket, examined the color. Dark gold was never something he'd tried, but it looked alright.

His leggings were black, his leather boots white. There were gold sparkles in his hair, his eyes were underlined with the same glitter. It wasn't something he could control, that was an adaptation of his kind. Cautiously he double checked his appearance, when he could find nothing wrong he walked down to inspect the ballroom.

Nobody had used the ballroom in decades, he hadn't even set foot inside. When he walked in, he was suprised by the amount of warm light filtered in. Most of it was from the candles that hung on the chandelier, but some was natural. Ludo was already there, wearing a black tie around his neck that he was sure Sarah had to have tied. And Hoggle stood there in his little tuxedo, looked shockingly clean.

Now Sir Didymus was no where to be seen, until Ludo moved over a little. He looked just how Jareth imagined he might. His formal attire was wrinkled from riding Ambrosius and that hat was still on his head. Across the room stood a lone figure, Melony. Nobody wanted to talk to her, all had thier own reasons for hatred. Some of them even shared a reason.

She'd gone with the black, revealing more skin than he would have liked. She was dressed like a slut, he laughed inwardly, if only she knew how foolish it was to try something so low.

The music started and goblins were dancing in a formal waltz. Sarah was stil nowhere to be seen.

She was furious for herself, she could already hear the music starting. If only she'd started getting ready earlier. Her heels clicked as she bolted down the hallway. After almost falling several times, and getting very lost, she found herself by the door ten minutes later. After quickly fixing her hair, she took a deep breath and stepped in. Decisions had been made and no one was going to change her mind now.

Chapter 19

She brushed past the goblins easily, saw him as he watched the dance. He was facing away from her, so she could suprise him. Ludo beat her to it.

"Sarah." He called out from beside Jareth. Jareth turned at her name, looked straight at her. Yes, things were different now, niether one was playing any games. Still, reactions were similar. His eyes were sincere and deep, causing her to get lost in them. The way he looked made her feel so important, like she was the only reason he was here.

He had no idea what he was looking at, an angel maybe, an angel in blue. But certainly this wasn't the same woman he'd startled when he knocked on her door. Fearing she was nothing but an illusion, he stepped forward, reached out to offer her his hand.

She smile as she closed the distance and took his hand. He kissed the top of it gently as the heat flooded to her cheeks. When he asked her for a dance she knew she'd always answer the same as she did now. " Yes." She gulped.

As they joined the others on the dance floor they only had eyes for eachother. "So," He let his eyes travel to the other dancing couples for a moment. "Have you decided when your going to go home?"

"Tomorrow." She nodded, feeling her throat close up. "I have to."

"I understand." His heart yearned to tell her the mistake she was making, but that would only scare her.

"And I want you to come with me." She continued, " If you don't I'll have no way of coming back."

"Ok, now I don't understand." He met her eyes, saw the laughter in them. Did she honestly think this was a joke?

"I don't know how to explain what I'm trying to say." She gazed into those eyes, and she couldn't believe she didn't know from the beginning. "I guess there is one way to explain it." She leaned in and touched her lips to his gently, his hands held her there as thier lips met again. The kiss was soft, everything she'd imagined it would be. It was sweet and yet there was a shock, like they'd been waiting their entire lives for this.

"I'm in love with you, Jareth." She looked down as they continued dancing. "And I need you to tell me I'm not being foolish."

"Destiny is foolish." He smiled. " I've known how I felt about you for six years. See, when my kind meets their true love and they look in thier eyes without letting anything get in the way for the first time, thier heart starts to beat. That way, because we never fall in love with anyone of our own kind, we can grow old with the person we most care about."

"Your rambling." Her eyes widened in suprise, "Your nervous."

" No, I'm happy. You made my heart beat, Sarah, that should tell you everything you ever need to know. But what made you change your mind?"

She was blushing more now, her cheeks were bright red. " When I woke up in your arms, it was a real eye opener. I realized I don't want to wake up any other way. I want to be with you, Jareth, only you."

Someone called thier names, they stopped dancing and found thier way over to Hoggle. When he sent Jareth a look, she laughed and leaned down to kiss his cheek. "You boys are a bunch of sneaks." She accused them as Jareth wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her close to him.

"For the record," He whispered into her ear, " I'm not letting go of you at all tonight."

"You might have to." Her eyes traveled to Ludo, who was dancing a little more obnoxiously. "Because, I do have to dance with that big guy over there. Promise you won't turn him into something if I do?"

" I'll try." He laughed as she pecked him on the cheek and left to dance with Ludo. He watched as she began to teach him the steps of the waltz, that beast was a clutz.

"What's with her?" Hoggle pretended to still be annoyed, as always.

"She just realized she can't go home if she's already there." Jareth looked down at the little dwarf. They stayed silent until Sarah came back to them, Ludo was following close behind, smacking everybody with his tail.

"You boys are awfully quiet." She rolled her eyes as Sir Didymus climbed up on Ludo again.

"Well," Jareth grinned, "I don't know what Hoggle was thinking, but I was formulating the perfect way to ask you my question."

Her eyes narrowed, "What question?"

"What would you say if I asked you to be my bride?" He pretended to not already know the answer.

"Did you listen to anything I said?" She rolled her eyes again. " I want to be with you, only you."

"That's all I needed to hear." He hooked his arm around her and brought her to him so that he could kiss her again.

Chapter 20

Her hair blew with the wind that came through his window, she turned to look at him. She'd let her hair down, hiding the curls under the top layer. He stood there, watching her. It was a marvelous thing to know that someone loved you no matter how horrible your past was. It was around three in the morning and they still couldn't sleep so they decided, now was the time.

There was an expected knock on the door. Sarah came over and took his hand as he willed the door open. Melony walked in, angry as ever, those black eyes were focused on Sarah.

"I wil not be summoned like some servant," She demanded, "Expesially this early in the morning."

"The ball is over," Jareth's eyes were like ice, " Now it is time for you to leave, but we've decided to give you a going away present."

"What is it?" Melony was suspicious.

"A all-expenses-payed vacation to the bog of eternal stench." He caught the guard's eye and gestured for him to come forward and take the prisoner. "Oh, and Melony, I wouldn't try to use your power if I were you." As Melony was dragged away, Sarah took a good look at her.

"What'd you do to her powers?" She asked once she was gone.

"Let's just say, she'd definately get a taste of her own medicine." He pulled her over to the book shelf. "Why don't we make this official?"

"How much more official could it be?" She rolled her eyes for the thousandth time. From out of nowhere he pulled out her book. With a small smile he looked at her before he placed it among all the other books."

"And they all lived happily ever after." She sighed. "If only life would ever be that simple."

"Now," He touched her cheek, waited until her eyes closed. "Where would be the fun in that?"

When she opened her eyes they were in her kitchen, her smile faded. "What's wrong?" He demanded, not quite sure what to do if she changed her mind now. Would she rather just stay?

"Nothing." She looked around, feeling out of place in her evening gown. "I guess I just realized how much of a home the castle had become for me."

"We can go back as soon as your done here." He promised her, taking both of her hands again.

"It should only take me about a day." She cut her previous time in half with no effort at all. She wouldn't need to say goodbye to everything like she thought.

So the goblin king would marry the human woman and she'd live there with her friends, where she belonged. And one day she would tell her children the story of the labyrinth, and they'd tell their kids and so on to the rest of eternity.

Epilogue

She was all ready to go, just had to get the young ones ready. The door opened as her husband of four years strolled in. His face showed signs of aging while remaining as beautiful as ever. When he stepped in, she knew it would be hopeless to contain the children.

A smile spread across his face, he gazed down at his children. They were gorgeous, he decided at least once a day. The boy, Jereth Jr. was three now, and the girl, Katelyn was a year old. The boy ran at him in a smaller version of his father's suit as the girl clapped cheerfully in her sparkling white dress.

"Are we almost ready?" He looked up at thier mother. She was still as beautiful in his eyes as she'd always been. Her hair was chopped shorter now, ending right above the shoulder. There was something more there now, too, she'd had his children. It was miricales like that in which he'd learned to trust over the years.

Still, she was as young and vibrant as always. They were still young enough that they took thier children back to her world for christmas, visited with all her family. They'd been kind of upset when she got married with out telling them but they had forgiven her the moment she walked in the door. And now, after three christmases together, they would celebrate thier fourth anniversery.

"Yes, we're ready." She took Katelyn in her arms and grasped Jereth's hand. Junior was already in his arms, he sat there expectantly. As Jereth squeezed her hand, she smiled and they started on thier walk toward the ballroom.

Inside, they waited for them. Hoggle and his girlfriend, Gertrude, grinned at them, Ludo called out thier names. Junior took off, climbed up the beast's back. Katelyn waited patiently until Hoggle left Gertrude's side and took her from Sarah. He was Uncle Hoggle to thier kids, had been with them every step of the way.

Every year it was the same, and yet better, they danced with thier friends and celebrated another happy year. As her hands were now free, and to keep with a tradition she didn't plan on dropping any time soon, she reached out to kiss her husband.

"I still love you." She told him as everyone else went to play with the kids. "And I'll continue loving you until I die."

"I'm going to hold you to that." He nodded, pulling her out onto the dance floor.


End file.
